Thursday, August 13, 2015

Popov Demolishes Third ‘Krymnash’ Myth – That Crimean People Freely Expressed Their Will

Paul
Goble

Staunton, August 13 – Moscow historian
Arkady Popov takes up and demolishes the third myth that the Kremlin has
promoted as part of its “Crimea is Ours” campaign – the notion that the people
of Crimea freely expressed their will regarding the annexation of their land by
the Russian Federation.

Putin’s assertion that “the
residents of Crimea had the complete right to independently decide the issue of
separation from Ukraine is not so,” Popov says.For such a vote to be “legally significant,” a referendum has to meet
certain standards: It must correspond to the constitution of the country and be
conducted in democratic ways. The Crimean vote was neither.

The Ukrainian constitution does not
allow local referenda on separatist demands. Were it to do so, that would open
the way for voting not just on ethno-national grounds by down to the city
level. And that in turn, Popov continues, would lead to “’self-determination’
chaos” if small areas sought a vote.

Supporters of the Crimean “referendum”
point to cases in Switzerland, Great Britain, Canada and Spain, but all of
these cases show why what happened in Crimea was not an expression of the popular
will in accordance with international law. Votes there were allowed by the
governments involved and carried out democratically.

In all four of these cases, both
sides respected existing law. But “in less civilized countries where such
willingness is not found, the problem of separatism is resolved one way or the
other by means of exacerbating hatred and the application of arms, with all the
consequences that ensue from that.”

Moreover, Popov continues, Russians
are somewhat confussed about national self-determination. It refers to the
citizens of a state and not “for nations as an ethno-territorial group.” That
is acknowledged by Russian experts on this principle of international law, he
writes.

That means, the Moscow historian
says, that “the subjects of political self-determination can be onlhy the
entire nation of the state and not some part of it set apart by ethnic or
regional characteristics.” And that in turn means that the entire nation has to
agree to what is done or even to the process. If not, not.

What happened in Crimea was something
“completely different,” Popov argues.The decisions on the referendum were made by local officials who seized
power as a result of the military action of Russia, the referendum itself was
shifted and redefined several times, and there was no opportunity for serious
debate.

One cannot say, he says, that “the
majority of residents of Crimea did not want to join with Russia. What it means
is that no one knows how many of them wanted exactly that because the entire
process of preparing the referendum, the entire course of the agitation
campaign, and the process of counting the voted was completely controlled by
supporters of unification.”

One can call what happened in Crimea
a referendum, but that doesn’t make it so. When the UN General Assembly voted
on the matter, 100 countries said it was not a legitimate referendum. Only 11
did, “including Russia.”

Efforts to present an illegal
referendum as legitimate and to impose its result as a decision, Popov
continues, “in any self-respecting country would be described as criminal,
especially if it was used for secession.” Indeed, Russia punishes even the call
for secession and not even acts to promote it.

“Apparently, this is the new
morality,” Popov says. “All politicians lie but all try to conceal this. But
our president lies honestly and openly! And this means that Krymnashism is
completely suitable as the nucleus of a unique national ideology.”

That is because “any new ideology
must besides new ideas offer certain new values, and it is already understood
that internationalism and international law are not among them. Instead, what
is included is tribal nationalism and the right of the fist,” the Moscow
historian points out in conclusion.

“But those values were well-knowwn a
thousand years before Putin. But taking delight in one’s own lies – ‘we lie and
we are proud of this!’” – is something new.Indeed, it appears that “’Putin’s teaching is all-powerful because it is
false.’”That is something that “ought
to make an impression” on the West.